Grave robbing, torture, possessed nuns, and a satanic Sabbath: Benjamin Christensen's legendary film uses a series of dramatic vignettes to explore the scientific hypothesis that the witches of the Middle Ages suffered the same hysteria as turn-of-the-century psychiatric patients. But the film...
The man-hungry “vampire,” later to be popularized by America’s Theda Bara, made her screen debut in this Danish melodrama directed by August Blom. Clara Wieth starred in the title role of the Vampire Dancer, which is just what she was: a dancer performing her seductions on-stage. Off-stage,...
Joe, a circus clown, has a chance meeting with a famous French fashion designer, who – enthralled by Joe’s artistic talent – gets him a job in Paris. He quickly becomes the talk of the town, but as we know, wealth and happiness do not always go hand in hand, as opulent big-city living...
Goethe’s Faust myth makes an appearance in this drama about a dispute between two scientists. When Doctor Voluntas discovers that his rival, the virtuous Doctor Felix, is about to overtake him in the preparation of a serum for cancer, he decides to lure the good doctor into corruption. An...
The poor child Inger must endure trials of an almost biblical nature before her heart can be saved by true love. First, Inger is rejected by the love of her youth, Hans, who chooses a rich man’s daughter instead. Because of this, she gets thrown out into the street by her own mother but finds...
Michael von Straeten is an unscrupulous financier whose harshness and cynicism have earned him the nickname ‘The Tiger’. He destroys his enemies with no mercy and no regrets, watching calmly when his victims come close to starving to death. Will von Straeten see the error of his ways when he is...
When Eve Vange regains her sight after a successful operation, she falls in love with her saviour – the young ophthalmologist Juel. Her fiancé Ernst, who is both her cousin and a teacher at the school for the blind, sets her free so she can marry the man she loves. However, it doesn’t take...
The artistic cyclist Gaumont, his girlfriend Baptista, and their partner Rosa arrive in town with their travelling circus. Rosa is secretly in love with Gaumont, and to her great delight, she gets the opportunity to travel alone with him when Baptista gets injured and is bedridden. The two of them...
The year is 1820 and a young, promising artist, Olaf Malm, has settled in Rome, Europe’s centre of art at the time. He is in love with Sigrid, but class differences make their love impossible. Olaf Malm dies in a tragic accident; he allegedly drowns in the Tiber, but his body is never found....
On a holiday, the family Gram meets a young, mysterious man who turns out to be a Mormon. In spite of her fiancèe's presence, the daughter Nina is drawn to the stranger. Hypnotized, she soon follows his every step. When she finally awakes from her trance, she finds herself on a ship to Utah, in...
Lieutenant Udo visits his family in the company of two good friends of his. One of them – Lieutenant Borch – immediately falls in love with Udo’s sister, Ebba, and she with him. While caught up in the rush of new love, he receives a letter from a loan shark to whom he owes money, demanding...
Doctor Willy Prager’s long, selfless office hours come at the expense of his attention-seeking fiancée. During a garden party, Willy is summoned to an ill child’s bedside and leaves his fiancée Erna in the hands of his faithful friend Alfred. Out of sheer boredom, Erna tries to kiss Alfred,...
Every day is life and death for the circus performers of the big city. Tightrope dancer Ulla lives and works in a circus with her family. Tragically, her husband plunges to his death after a wrong step during the eternal acrobatic ‘dance macabre’. In the midst of Ulla’s grief, the lion tamer...
FRAGMENT | Wild love drives a woman to steal money from her own father. It is the lodging lieutenant Von Bremer, who has charmed her with empty words. Von Bremer leaves with the money, while the father throws the woman out. Twenty-two years later, a young man seeks accommodation with Von Bremer and...
